Product Description

Author of a brand of feminine angst that far predates the Alanis nation, Polly Jean Harvey brings a heretofore-unseen level of drama to the pop form. She is possessed of a rage that is finely focused, and an artistic sensibility that injects her music with a disarming, highly literate edge. Her fifth album, IS THIS DESIRE? finds Harvey delivering on the promise of her earlier albums: without losing any of the rage of her earlier, more guitar-driven work, she further refines her psychotic tales of obsession and despair, all the while laying down a sonic groundwork which is always experimental and unexpected, including a heavy dose of electronica.
Harvey's trademark whisper-to-a-scream vocal style is present throughout IS THIS DESIRE. "The Sky Lit Up" sees a casual, almost spoken vocal erupt slowly into an otherworldy wail, accented perfectly by wild guitar textures. "Catherine" is a sublime, evocative ballad, whose vitriolic lyrics are juxtaposed against a soft, rolling backing track. "The Garden" skips along at a determined pace, with keyboard textures and swelling strings making it a quintessential PJ Harvey composition: haunting, angry and thoroughly unusual.

Track Listing

1. Angelene
2. The Sky Lit Up
3. The Wind
4. My Beautiful Leah
5. A Perfect Day Elise
6. Catherine
7. Electric Light
8. The Garden
9. Joy
10. The River
11. No Girl So Sweet
12. Is This Desire?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5512 in Music
• Released on: 2003-08-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 41 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Each of Harvey's previous albums has been a distinct affair. She has taken steps forward not only in forging her sound but also in exploring the wealthy veins of rock and roll. So on first listen, Is This Desire? seems almost disappointing, very close to same dark, woozy and bluesy musical territory she staked out on To Bring You My Love. But it's been said that though good stories can be read once, great stories must be read twice. In that spirit, this album, beautifully complex and subtly shaded, deserves a few revisitations. A recommendation: spend a few nonstop hours with Is This Desire? . It will change you. --Tod Nelson

Customer Reviews

Frozen beauty
I bought this album when it came out, when I was but a child of 15, and I love it more than ever.

There was a review somewhere that accused the album of not moving on from To Bring You My Love, to which I could not disagree more. There is a frozon, muted beauty to this rather bleak album. It is daring and emotional, she's screaming one moment, and in dulled into a coma another. This album features the best of PJ's fairy taleish songs that began on the previous album - female characters feature strongly (but, of course, musically these are very different).

It is not perfect, some songs are not great songs, but it is brilliant in the sense that some people will love this album. PJ has created something of value.

is this desire?
pj harvey takes you on a journey into the heart of desire. it is an uncertain ride upon the first few listens, then you kinda get used to the environment and succumb to it. the songs are beautifully crafted - there is a real sense of atmosphere here. this album is unlike any other i've experienced. this is a good thing. polly harvey has made a modern day masterpiece here, i feel, and the range of different forms of desire in all their glory succeed in satisfying upon repeated listens. whether played loud whilst dancing manically to the loud tracks, or listening through headphones to the more delicate songs, the album is uncomfortable and soothing at the same time. it is quite a dark album, but i feel this is the point, as the light side of desire has been played out time and again in other musical forms. it is supposedly a work of fiction, but as the saying goes, everything you can imagine that's happened, has happened and i suspect this is the case here. you are left feeling for characters you've never met, relating to stories too horrific to be true and yet, you end up feeling glad you stopped by.

awesome piece of music
Have you ever fallen totally, and utterly, in love with an album before? Well...I have...it's called Is This Desire? From Angeline to Is This Desire? Polly Jean leads you on a complex journey during which she'll introduce you to a number of female characters, recreating diverse ambiances as she moves along the record. I have listened to it hundreds of times but haven't yet come close to getting tired of it. On the contrary...You might not agree with me, especially if you are not acquainted with PJ Harvey's music and have chosen Is This Desire? to start discovering her work. In this case try Stories From the City Stories From the Sea. But if you're willing to venture on one of the music journeys of you life, run to the record store and get yourself Is This Desire? Enjoy!